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A collision warning system for heavy goods vehicles is to undergo field tests in the UK before being offered to the road haulage industry as an after-market product.
The US-based multi-national Eaton is shortly to make its £2,000 Vorad radar-based collision warning system available to a truck operator for trialing purposes, through its UK distributor Truck Transmissions of Blackburn. The American company claims that the system offers a minimum of two and a half seconds warning through the use of warning lights and audible signals in the cab and will read objects up to 350 feet ahead and 12 feet either side of the truck.
But although collision warning systems have already been fitted to around 80,000 commercial vehicles in the US, UK and other European operators have so far been reluctant to make use of the technology.
"The argument," said Geoff Day, a senior engineer at the UK's Freight Transport Association, "has always revolved around whether or not the system took control of the vehicle or simply relied on warning bleeps and lights. If the latter, then drivers say that they, rather than technology, are best placed to make a decision on whether they should take action."
In addition to Eaton, Volvo is also understood to be on the point of producing their own collision avoidance system.
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